Crossroads announces first pro-life walk across Australia

BRISBANE, December 5, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Crossroads, the international youth pro-life organization that sponsors pro-life walks in the United States, Canada, Ireland & Spain has announced their first-ever pro-life walk in Australia.

Jim Nolan, President of Crossroads, said he is “excited” about the new walk, pointing out that Crossroads has now expanded to include eight annual walks in five different countries.

The walkers will cover 1,500 miles down the east coast of Australia beginning on December 15 in Brisbane and ending four weeks later on January 12 in Melbourne at the steps of Parliament, with a Christmas break on the 24th and 25th.

Over the four weeks the pro-life youth will pass through Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, and numerous towns in between where they will witness to life peacefully and prayerfully at abortion clinics. They will also spread the pro-life message through radio, television and newspaper interviews, and speak to youth groups and at churches to raise awareness to the pro-life issue and to encourage people to get involved in building a Culture of Life.

The walk group consists of 10 young participants, ages 18 to 30, who have committed to the entire journey, with additional walkers invited to join the core group at any point along the way for as much or as little of the walk as they can.

“We had no problem recruiting enough young people to walk on this new walk,” said Nolan. “Support for this new walk has been strong and we are excited to work with youth in this country to continue changing the hearts and minds on the issue of life.”

Coordinator of the Australia walk, Allison Lattie of the US, said her previous experience working in youth ministry in Australia provided the impetus to return to organize pro-life youth to undertake the Crossroads walk. She said the walk is more than a journey, it’s a pilgrimage, pointing out that “during our pilgrimages… we strive always to join our efforts, prayers and small sacrifices with the sufferings of Christ - crucified for the sake of all, born and unborn.”

The Thomas More Centre and the Young Political Activist Training (http://www.ypat.org.au/) youth groups are sponsoring the Crossroads Australia walk.

“We are proud to have the Thomas More Centre and the YPAT groups as our official sponsors for this new walk,” said Lattie. “They are youth organizations based in Balwyn, Victoria and a few of their members are also walking with us. We are also happy to have Youth For Life of Australia and several other groups as partners for this new walk.”

The walk will end with Mass and a pro-life rally in Melbourne on Saturday 12th January.

Lattie said the rally will be the launch-pad for a campaign to overturn Section 8 of Victoria’s abortion laws, which violates the conscience rights of doctors to refuse participation in an abortion, which is now legal up until birth.

“Victoria’s abortion laws are the second worst in the world behind only China’s,” Lattie remarked, but concluded that, “The prayerful witness of the Crossroads pilgrims have caused abortion clinic turn-arounds, changed hearts and minds, and saved lives.”

If you would like to join for part or all of the walk, make a donation, or find out more about Crossroads, visit the Crossroads Australia website here.